This Diva Isn’t Above Begging

May 13, 2008

This is Penny, aka Princess L’Heureux of A Thoroughbred Family Affair fame performing her special trick–bowing. She’s a diva. But she’s not a diva who is above begging.

A good 13 years ago, I taught Penny to bow. I took her favorite treat, a peppermint, and would place it between her front legs up by her elbow. I’d get her to follow it down with her nose, and then I’d tap her left front pastern with my foot until she placed it forward and tipped it. Hence, a leg up and a nose between her legs for the basic bow. Let me tell, you that mare is a quick learner. She picked it up in just a few tries and never forgot.

In the picture above, she’s bowing when asked. (That’s my mom performing the trick while I played photographer, by the way.) To ask, all you have to do is tap the inside of Penny’s upper leg, and bam! Her head is down and leg out and tipped up so delicately.

In this picture, however, Penny is begging. She hasn’t been asked to perform her trick. But she knows that if she bows anyway, she’s asking for a treat and is likely to get it.

For years after I taught her to bow, she’d do it every time I walked into her stall without being asked. Pavlov’s horse anyone?

I even did an eighth grade science experiment on teaching horses to bow. It wasn’t very good as I didn’t have an actual thesis (I’ve always been the more creative, writing oriented child; science was my worst subject). But I taught eight other horses at Little Neshannock Stables Penny’s bowing trick. She remained the queen bee though; none of them learned as fast or as well as she did. Most of them just looked at me quizzically as if stay “Just give me that carrot already, wouldya?”

This is Penny saying “Just give me that grain already, wouldya?” (she was getting a little tired of holding her bowing pose for pictures). “I did it, I did it, now let me have it!”

And this is Penny getting something she likes even better than peppermints — if that’s equinely possible — a good scratch. If she’s especially itchy, and you get just the right spot, she’ll about fall over she enjoys it so much (really she will. I’m not exaggerating. The wall has come in handy on more than one occasion).

Penny isn’t a particularly vocal horse, but this last weekend while I was at home visiting, she was happy to see me. I was making my way down the barn aisle and stopped to talk to the horse in the stall next to Penny’s. When she heard me, she started nickering and didn’t stop. I went into her stall. She looked me over once, swung her side over to me, and stood there nickering. So I started scratching.

She has me so well trained, doesn’t she?

Posted in Horsin' Around, Training, Women and Horses